Some years ago I was injured in a firearm explosion. The accident took my right eye and a ton of the confidence I had built from a lifetime of shooting experience. Slowly but surely I have reacquainted myself with shooting as well as learned new disciplines due to being forced to shoot left handed.
During this time I never stopped collecting, only shooting, and through the years I was able to parlay a few items and save enough cash to buy a NIB m82a1 for what I would consider.... doting grandfather price.
Fast forward a few years and this still unfired rifle is messing with my head. so much so that I finally purchased the scope I have wanted since I got it. Simple cheap and easy super sniper 10x.
The optic will be here in a few days and I can tell that the moment is close. having never fired a 50 or even been near one when fired...... what advice do you have for a total noob who won the lottery and never wants to suffer from massive head trauma again

.50 felt recoil with a good brake feels like a .270 or .308. Easy to shoot. Make sure muzzle is not under a metal roof if possible. We were shooting in the rain from under one and the concussion was much greater than when the muzzle was even 6 inches past the roof.

Good luck with your shooting revival.

Was the last time without safety glasses or a freak accident with them? Not trying to rehash, but to learn.

Thank you very much for the advice! I will keep it in mind for sure.

Lets call it a freak accident without them. The "Experts" and dr.s unanimously agreed wearing them would have been fatal in this particular instance.

Thank you very much for the offer, unfortunately yuma is a little out of my wheel house. I appreciate your dedication and love the amount of knowledge you share in the .50 cal forum it is helpful for people new to the game like me!

You don't need to worry about recoil with that pussycat, but double up on hearing protection.

I sold a 50 ~6 years ago to fund a 375 Cheytac build and recently picked up a new BA50.
If you shoot in central AZ and want company, let me know. With a 50 you tend to get volunteers.

Are you just looking to play or serious about precision? UN Ammo up on Glendale and I10 usually has a nice selection of spotters, tracers, incendiary, etc. when the environment is moist enough to be safe, and decent prices on factory loads.

Good eye and ear pro. The recoil is completely manageable. Like others mentioned, .308 like. An 82 has a helluva recoil system. Otherwise, beware of the blast which isn't bad for the shooter. Clear the benches/ground around you unless you want it flying. Definitely, as said, do not shoot under an awning.

My normal ear pro are Howard leight Impacts..... I'm hoping them and some foamies will be sufficient?? As far as accuracy goes.... I'm not expecting to out perform the rifle anytime soon and have no ideas what the limitations of the 10x scope will be so I suppose I will play the one by ear. Start close and see how far I can stretch her out I am thinking.

As for ammo I bought some from .50 bmg supply a few years ago as well as some Barrett and PMC. Hopefully those are all GTG.

Thanks for the conversations gents! just talking about it is starting to really get me excited!

That's the same ear protection I have used with .50 (and that I use at indoor ranges with other guns) and I've been fine with it.

Have fun!

Those work fine.

I use a 10x on mine and have gone to a 1000. Clarity is far more important than power a lot of times and depending on the intended shooting style. If banging steel, 10x is fine. If shooting bugholes, probably need a bit more. When I first started distance shooting it was hard for me to fathom not using a gigantic hubble telescope style scope for long range. Until the first time I went past 500, with a good optic that went to 25x and only used 14x or so. Last PRS match I shot went to 1100 and I stayed on 10x the whole time. Seeing a 22" gong at 1100 yards was easy peasy. It was just a ring the gong to make the hit count match, so all I needed to go was see it.

82s aren't intended to be super accurate. I mean they aren't bad, but they aren't match rifles. It's an anti-material rifle and that's what it does. I struggled with that when buying one. Not that long ago I was posting asking about the accuracy. The fun way overshadows any lacking accuracy. Just accept it for what it is....tons of fun.

Good ammo as far as I know. I shoot a lot of PMC and Lake City XM33 with a Barrett sticker on the can.

I'd shoot the PMC first, The Barrett seems to be loaded a bit hotter (I have a spec .sheet in a case of, I'll look for it)
I bought a Steyr HS-50  when they came out, being Austria's military rifle the brakes port is angled back more towards the shooter than other brands.
Has a 2 stage trigger, wasn't sure when it would go off.
First shot inhaled a mouthful of muzzle blast!
The recoil was more than I expected.
With Federal ammo it's like shooting a .410 shotgun.

Have fun, post a range report!
*ETA* Started with a Bushnell 6X, same one Barrett added to their single shot package deal.
I now have a SS 20X and love it.

To avoid massive head trauma when firing a 50 BMG, the best method is to load your own.  I'd never put my face behind that much power hoping someone else did their job properly.

You might want to see if Al B. has any insights on that....

Lots of good info in here! I received my new scope and am gonna be trying to get it installed here in the next few days.... kinda rethinking it due to not having a way to level the rifle effectively lol. Thinking I may have a solution but we will see.

I am excited but I still have a palpable amount of anxiety.

I will prevail.

Was easy on my Steyr.
Broke it down, removed bolt, placed assembled rifle on bags on my table.
My neighbor 200 yards away had a utility trailer with baby moon hub caps, made a perfect sighting target!
First range shot was an inch from bulls eye at 200 yards.
Glad you're getting back into, and with a .50 BMG!